NEW DELHI: The Department of Telecom today asked winners in the recent spectrum auction, which attracted bids worth Rs 61,162 crore, to make payments by February 27.

"The last date for payment is 27th February 2014. If the payment is not received by the last date, the EMD (earnest money deposit) will be forfeited," DoT said in a notice.

Seven of the eight companies that participated in the auction won airwaves with bids that exceeded the government's estimates. They were Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Telewings (Uninor), Reliance Communications and Aircel.

The successful companies have to pay at least Rs 18,529 crore if they opt to pay the amount in installments, according to the notice. The government had initially expected Rs 11,300 crore of revenue from the auction in this financial year.

Winners of 1800 MHz band spectrum have to make an upfront payment of 33 per cent and can pay the rest in 10 yearly installments after a two-year moratorium.

In the premium 900 MHz band spectrum, the winners can pay 25 per cent of the final price upfront and the remainder in yearly installments.

Vodafone, the biggest winner of spectrum during the 10-day auction that started on February 3, has the option to make an upfront payment of Rs 5,581.8 crore. The company won 900 MHz spectrum in the three metros of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata for Rs 11,261.2 crore and 1800 MHz spectrum in 11 service areas for Rs 8,383.52 crore.

Airtel followed Vodafone with Rs 18,529.64 crore of bids. It won 900 MHz band frequencies in the three metros for Rs 8,623 crore crore and 1800 MHz band spectrum in 15 out of 22 service areas for Rs 9,906.02 crore.

New entrant RJio made bids worth Rs 11,054.41 crore for the 1800 MHz band in 14 service areas.

Idea Cellular bid Rs 3,704.8 crore for the 900 MHz band in Delhi and acquired 1800 MHz band spectrum in 11 service areas, for which it has to pay Rs 7,010.83 crore.

Telewings Communication Services and Aircel bought 1800 MHz band spectrum in five service areas for Rs 877.72 crore and Rs 209.9 crore, respectively. Reliance Communications purchased airwaves in the same band in Mumbai for Rs 163.2 crore.